title: Clinical impact of sepsis at admission to the ICU of a private hospital in Salvador, Brazil.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the clinical characteristics, laboratory data, and clinical outcomes of patients with and without sepsis admitted to the ICU of a private hospital in the city of Salvador, Brazil, and to identify clinical variables related to a worse prognosis in those with sepsis.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a longitudinal study including all patients admitted to the general ICU of the Hospital Português, in the city of Salvador, Brazil, between June of 2008 and March of 2009. At ICU admission, two groups of patients were identified: with sepsis and without sepsis. Epidemiological, clinical and laboratory data were collected, and the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score was calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 144 patients in the study, 29 (20.1%) had sepsis. Among the patients with sepsis, males accounted for 55.2%, the mean age was 73.1 ± 14.6 years, and the mean APACHE II score was 23.8 ± 9.1, compared with 36.3%, 68.7 ± 17.7 years, and 18.4 ± 9.5, respectively, among those without sepsis. There were significant associations between a diagnosis of sepsis and the following variables: APACHE II score; in-hospital mortality; ICU mortality; HR; mean arterial pressure; hematocrit level; white blood cell count; and antibiotic use. The use of life support measures and lower hematocrit levels were associated with a worse prognosis in the patients with sepsis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The patients diagnosed with sepsis presented worse clinical outcomes, probably due to their greater severity. Hematocrit level was the only variable that was a predictor of mortality risk in the patients with sepsis.
authors.affiliation: Bahia School of Medicine and Public Health, Salvador, Brazil. verenajuncal@gmail.com
authors.forename: Verena Ribeiro
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Juncal
authors.forename: Lelivaldo Antonio de
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Britto Neto
authors.forename: Aquiles Assunção
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Camelier
authors.forename: Octavio Henrique Coelho
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Messeder
authors.forename: Augusto Manoel de Carvalho
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Farias
mesh_terms: D018806:APACHE; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006400:Hematocrit; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D018805:Sepsis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality*